[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 250 (Monday, December 31, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 76996-76998]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-31532]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 745
[EPA-HQ-OPPT-2010-0173; FRL-9373-7]
RIN 2070-AJ56
Lead; Renovation, Repair, and Painting Program for Public and
Commercial Buildings; Request for Information and Advance Notice of
Public Meeting
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Request for information and advance notice of public meeting.
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SUMMARY: In 2010, EPA issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking
(2010 ANPRM) concerning renovation, repair, and painting activities on
and in public and commercial buildings. EPA is in the process of
determining whether these activities create lead-based paint hazards,
and, for those that do, developing certification, training, and work
practice requirements as directed by the Toxic Substances Control Act
(TSCA). This document opens a comment period to allow for additional
data and other information to be submitted by the public and interested
stakeholders. This document also provides advance notice of EPA's plan
to hold a public meeting on June 26, 2013.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 1, 2013.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2010-0173, by one of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Do not submit
electronically any information you consider to be Confidential Business
Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted
by statute.
Mail: Document Control Office (7407M), Office of Pollution
Prevention and Toxics (OPPT), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200
Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001.
Hand Delivery: To make special arrangements for hand
delivery or delivery of boxed information, please follow the
instructions at http://www.epa.gov/dockets/contacts.htm.
Additional instructions on commenting or visiting the docket, along
with more information about dockets generally, is available at http://www.epa.gov/dockets.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For technical information contact:
Hans Scheifele, National Program Chemicals Division (7404T), Office of
Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200
Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number:
(202) 564-3122; email address: [email protected].
For general information contact: The TSCA-Hotline, ABVI-Goodwill,
422 South Clinton Ave., Rochester, NY 14620; telephone number: (202)
554-1404; email address: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
A. Does this action apply to me?
This document is directed to the public in general. However, you
may be potentially affected by this action if you perform renovations,
repairs, or painting activities on the exterior or interior of public
buildings or commercial buildings. The following list of North American
Industrial Classification System (NAICS) codes is not intended to be
exhaustive, but rather provides a guide to help readers determine
whether this document applies to them. Other types of entities not
listed may also be affected. Potentially affected entities may include:
Building construction (NAICS code 236), e.g., commercial
building construction, industrial building construction, commercial and
institutional building construction, building finishing contractors,
drywall and insulation contractors, painting and wall covering
contractors, finish carpentry contractors, other building finishing
contractors.
Specialty trade contractors (NAICS code 238), e.g.,
plumbing, heating, and air-conditioning contractors; painting and wall
covering contractors; electrical contractors; finish carpentry
contractors; drywall and insulation contractors; siding contractors;
tile and terrazzo contractors; glass and glazing contractors.
Real estate (NAICS code 531), e.g., lessors of non-
residential buildings and dwellings, non-residential property managers.
Other general government support (NAICS code 921), e.g.,
general services departments, government, public property management
services, government.
If you have any questions regarding the applicability of this
action to a particular entity, consult the technical person listed
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
B. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for EPA?
1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through
regulations.gov or email. Clearly mark the part or all of the
information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information in a disk or
CD-ROM that you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD-ROM as
CBI and then identify electronically within the disk or CD-ROM the
specific information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one
complete version of the comment that includes information claimed as
CBI, a copy of the comment that does not contain the information
claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public docket.
Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with
procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2.
[[Page 76997]]
2. Tips for preparing your comments. When submitting comments,
remember to:
i. Identify this document by docket ID number and other identifying
information (subject heading, Federal Register date and page number).
ii. Follow directions. Follow the detailed instructions as provided
under ADDRESSES. Respond to specific questions posed by the Agency.
iii. Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives.
iv. Describe any assumptions and provide any technical information
and/or data that you used.
v. If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how you
arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be
reproduced by the Agency and others.
vi. Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns and
suggest alternatives.
vii. Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the use of
profanity or personal threats.
viii. Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period
deadline identified in this document.
II. Background
Title IV of TSCA, 15 U.S.C. 2681 et seq., was enacted to assist the
Federal Government in reducing lead exposures, particularly those
resulting from lead-based paint. Section 402(c)(3) of TSCA specifically
requires EPA to revise its Lead-based Paint Activities Regulations
(Ref. 1), promulgated under TSCA section 402(a), to apply to those
renovation and remodeling activities in target housing, public
buildings constructed before 1978, or commercial buildings that create
lead-based paint hazards. In April 2008, EPA issued the final Lead
Renovation, Repair, and Painting (RRP) Rule under TSCA section
402(c)(3) (Ref. 2). The RRP Rule covers renovation, repair, and
painting activities in target housing, which is most pre-1978 housing,
and child-occupied facilities, defined in the rule as a subset of
public and commercial buildings in which young children spend a
significant amount of time.
Shortly after the RRP Rule was published, several lawsuits were
filed challenging the rule, asserting, among other things, that EPA
violated TSCA section 402(c)(3) by failing to address renovation
activities in public and commercial buildings. These lawsuits (brought
by environmental and children's health advocacy groups as well as a
homebuilders association) were consolidated in the Circuit Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. EPA engaged in collective
settlement negotiations with all the parties and on August 24, 2009,
EPA entered into an agreement with environmental and children's health
advocacy groups in settlement of their lawsuits (Ref. 3). Shortly
thereafter, the homebuilders association voluntarily dismissed its
challenge to the rule. As part of this settlement agreement, EPA agreed
to commence rulemaking to address renovations in public and commercial
buildings, other than child-occupied facilities, to the extent such
renovations create lead-based paint hazards. As an initial step, EPA
issued an ANPRM in the Federal Register on renovations in public and
commercial buildings on May 6, 2010 (Ref. 4).
The settlement agreement has been amended and modified several
times primarily to extend deadlines, with the most recent amendment
having been entered into by the parties on September 7, 2012. Under the
terms of the amended settlement agreement, the date by which EPA has
agreed to either sign a proposed rule covering renovation, repair, and
painting activities in public and commercial buildings, or determine
that these activities do not create lead-based paint hazards, is July
1, 2015. If EPA publishes a proposed rule in the Federal Register, EPA
agrees to take final action on or before the date 18 months after the
proposed rule has published.
In addition, EPA agreed to hold a public meeting on or before July
31, 2013, and offer an opportunity for stakeholders and other
interested members of the public to provide data and other information
that EPA may use in making its regulatory determinations. With this
document, EPA is providing advance notice that it plans to hold the
public meeting on June 26, 2013, and will provide more information
about the public meeting in a subsequent document it intends to publish
in the Federal Register in the spring of 2013.
EPA also agreed to offer an opportunity for stakeholders and other
interested members of the public to provide data and other information
that EPA may use in making its regulatory determinations. This
document, therefore, opens a comment period to allow the public to
submit additional information and data pertaining to renovation,
repair, and painting activities in and on public or commercial
buildings. EPA plans to issue a discussion guide no later than 2 weeks
before the public meeting. EPA expects the discussion guide to describe
the information received during this comment period. Of particular
interest to EPA for developing a proposed rule is information
concerning:
1. The manufacture, sale, and uses of lead-based paint after 1978.
2. The use of lead-based paint in and on public and commercial
buildings.
3. The frequency and extent of renovations on public and commercial
buildings.
4. Work practices used in renovation of public and commercial
buildings.
5. Dust generation and transportation from exterior and interior
renovations of public and commercial buildings.
These topical descriptions offer only a short characterization of
the information that EPA is interested in. The 2010 ANPRM contains a
comprehensive history of this rulemaking and the lead program in
general, a review of some of the relevant information EPA has already
gathered and reviewed, and more detail on the information sought for
the public meeting (Ref. 4).
EPA is seeking information from all sources and regarding all types
of potentially affected businesses and other stakeholders, including
small businesses. Information regarding work practices typically used
by small businesses, as well as information on costs and other
potential regulatory impacts on small businesses, particularly those
that would uniquely affect small businesses, would be useful to EPA in
developing any proposed rule for renovation, repair, and painting
activities in and on public or commercial buildings.
III. References
As indicated under ADDRESSES, a docket has been established for
this document under docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2010-0173. The
following is a list of the documents that are specifically referenced
in this document. The docket includes these documents and other
information.
1. EPA. Lead; Requirements for Lead-Based Paint Activities in Target
Housing and Child-Occupied Facilities; Final Rule. Federal Register
(61 FR 45778, August 29, 1996) (FRL-5389-9).
2. EPA. Lead; Renovation, Repair, and Painting Program; Final Rule.
Federal Register (73 FR 21692, April 22, 2008) (FRL-8355-7).
3. EPA. Sierra Club, etc. Settlement, as amended and modified (2009,
2011, and 2012).
4. EPA. Lead; Renovation, Repair, and Painting Program for Public
and Commercial Buildings; Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.
Federal Register (75 FR 24848, May 6, 2010) (FRL-8823-6).
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 745
Environmental protection, Buildings and facilities, Business and
industry,
[[Page 76998]]
Lead- based paint, Hazardous substances, Public and commercial
buildings, Occupational safety and health, Renovations, Repair, and
Painting Program (RRP), Safety.
Dated: December 20, 2012.
James Jones,
Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2012-31532 Filed 12-28-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P